Faults:

It is not possible to open the doors when it is cold. The door seals appear to be porous resulting in retained water freezing the door shut. This is just straightforward bad design, poor product development or lack of testing prior to launch.

Having got into the car it refuses to start. It went back to the supplying dealer and an alternate dealer in a 2 week period in December 2002 and neither could find a fault. The car then refused point blank to fire on 27th December and the RAC were unable to start it as well. It went back to the supplying dealer who announced that the diagnostics were clear so there was nothing wrong with the car! There has still been no intervention for this problem and it is therefore certain to return.

The engine runs badly as it has from day one. This has been reported at every service without the dealer being able to address it. I am fairly certain that this is related to the above problem. I have queried if this is related to the 800,000 vehicles that VW are recalling for coil faults, but I have been told this is not the case. I wish I believed them.

Just prior to the first service the ABS warning light came on, but the VW diagnostics again failed to diagnose a fault. The system then failed catastrophically a few weeks later with the ABS cutting in way too early and lights flashing all over the dash. Thanks VW, I really appreciated that experience.

General Comments:

I decided on the Golf based on its' reputation and its' undeniable showroom appeal. However the reputation is based on a model that has been out of production for years.

This particular model is a dreadful car with poor reliability, hopeless diagnostics, terrible dealers, demonstrabe underdevelopment, and dangerous manufacturing faults. Where is the quality VW?

At least I have not been afflicted by the build quality recalls affecting the front suspension welding on this car. Having the wheels drop off would be the final straw.

Faults:

The first problem I experienced was with the ABS. To be fair, I did get a recall notice which I was slow to respond to. Then the ABS started acting strangely... kicking in for no apparent reason under gentle braking. Then I discovered (the hard way) that it wasn't working at all and brought it in for warranty repair the following day. Subsequent checking around revealed that the fault was overheating wiring which could potentially have caused a fire.

The second problem was with ignition coils which suddenly started dying. Three of them failed in succession, within a few thousand miles of each other, and I could get no explanation from the dealership what was going on. I've subsequently discovered that there was a design flaw in one particular model of coil which was fitted to several VWs and Audis and that VW can't make the replacements fast enough.

General Comments:

The car itself is very nice, although it is very expensive for what you get. The dealer service has been pretty poor and the fact the Volkswagen have been very slow to acknowledge a problem with those ignition coils is disgraceful given the premium you pay for "Volkswagen reliability".